Wine and Spirits Journalism

Piero Antonelli’s Tasting Room, Montefalco (Umbria, Italy, 2010)

I became interested in wine only after living a year in Rome, where I came to love brisk, nutty Castelli Romani with spaghetti carbonara and bright-berried Valpolicella with bistecca pizzaiola. When I returned to the US, I sought out wine and food experiences and venues to write about in a series of columns for Quincy Patriot Ledger, Newton Tab, Middlesex News, and Boston Herald; thumbnail wine, food and restaurant reviews for The Boston Phoenix. Datelines on my wine and food articles include Napa and Sonoma; Santa Fe; Finger Lakes, NY; Melbourne and Victoria, AU; Wellington and Marlborough, NZ; Perugia, Rome, Bassano del Grappa, IT, Chablis, Beaune, Alsace FR; Jerez, Rioja, Navarra, SP; Porto, Arinto, PT; Mendoza and Buenos Aires, AR; Santiago, Chile.

Beverage Business Magazine

Since 2000, I’ve written over 100 monthly Profiles and features for Beverage Business, showcasing Massachusetts and worldwide professionals in the flourishing beverage and food industries (chefs, sommeliers, salespeople, restaurateurs, winery owners, winemakers, distillers).

Other Publications

Wine Clubs

Soon after I began to write about wine, I realized I didn’t really enjoy wine in a vacuum, that is, without appropriate foods. So a few friends and I formed the Boston Barolo Club. Forty years later, we still have only a handful of members and a modest but deep communal cellar. We meet quarterly and enjoy quiet meals at each others homes. Email me for past menus.

ln 1990, I organized a very informal Italian wine/dine club (originally an offshoot of wine classes at Boston Center for Adult Education) and began hosting low-key dinners in Boston area restaurants for the growing coterie of foodies and would-be wine cognoscenti. AGLIO (Italian for “garlic”) is an acronym for Amici Gastronomici Leali all Italia ed all Oenologia (loosely, “Foodie Friends Loyal To Italy and Wine.”) We’ve held similarly loose AGLIO dinners at dozens of restaurants, mostly Italian. Favorite venues included Bricco, Buoniconti, Davide, Dali, Elephant Walk, Fiorentina, Maurizio, Rani, and too many to count at Newbury College’s Weltman Dining Rooms. The didactic factor has yet to trump the bonhomie and camaraderie!